Live

About

Live (1979) by Hans van Manen is a landmark ballet built around a solo female dancer and a live onstage camera operator, with a male dancer appearing at the end. The camera is an active partner in the choreography: it frames, edits and directs the viewer’s gaze in real time, turning the act of filming into part of the dance itself. In September 2020, Dutch National Ballet presented a short run of performances in the Grote Zaal at Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam. The work’s exploration of mediation and immediacy—how presence and image intersect—felt especially resonant, with all possibilities of the live camera examined before the audience’s eyes.